Widnes Football Club are an English association football club, based in

Widnes Widnes ( ) is an industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2011 census had a population of 61,464. Historically in Lancashire, it is on the northern bank of the River Mersey where the estuary narrows to form t ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's coun ...

. They are currently members of the , playing their home matches at the

DCBL Stadium The DCBL Stadium (historically known as Lowerhouse Lane and Naughton Park) is a rugby league stadium in Widnes, Cheshire, England. It is the home of Rugby League side Widnes Vikings of the Betfred Championship, and American football side Halt ...

, Widnes. They are affiliated to the

Liverpool County FA The Liverpool County Football Association, simply known as the Liverpool FA, is the County Football Association in the city of Liverpool, England. It runs several league and cup competitions in the city. Organisation The aim of the Liverpo ...

History

Early years: 2003 to 2012

The club was founded in February 2003 as The Dragons A.F.C. by former secretary Bill Morley as a local junior football club. In 2008, the club was awarded the FA Charter Standard Development award for its continuous development of grassroots football.

2012 to present

In March 2012, Widnes Dragons began a consultation process with

Widnes Vikings RLFC The Widnes Vikings are an English rugby league club in Widnes, Cheshire, which competes in the Betfred Championship. The club plays home matches at the Halton Stadium. Founded as Widnes Football Club, they are one of the original twenty-two rug ...

to become part of the Vikings Sports Brand, a partnership that was agreed to enhance the club's community status. On 10 July 2012, at the club's AGM, the club's members unanimously agreed to become a part of the Widnes Sports Group and agreed on a 12-month transitional period up to the end of that current season (2012–13). The next step in the club's progression was made in season 2013–14 when Widnes Vikings FC was admitted into the football pyramid and placed within

North West Counties Football League Division One The North West Counties Football League is a football league in the North West of England. Since 2019–20, the league has covered the Isle of Man, Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside, Cumbria, northern Staffordshire, northern ...

. In March 2014, the club's committee called an EGM for its members to decide on the future of the club. A unanimous vote was made that the club was to move away from the Vikings brand and to restructure the club to secure its own identity and long-term future. Subsequently, the club parted ways with the Vikings brand and became known as Widnes Football Club, which was symbolic in representing where the team and its fans came from whilst recognising that a new club needed to be built to establish confidence in the local community and support young local talent in Widnes. In 2016, a change in board structure lead to the appointment of Ian Ross as Chairman with a Board of Directors being established. Danny Meadowcroft and Brian Pritchard were appointed joint managers, replacing previous manager Steve Hill who left the Club following the end of the 2015-16 season. However, following an indifferent start to the season, Meadowcroft and Pritchard left the Club and were replaced by Joey Dunn, who was subsequently appointed manager. The season ended on a highly successful note as under Dunn's management, Widnes were crowned

Champions with a game to spare after a 5-1 win at AFC Blackpool. In summer 2017, the club began to re-establish a youth section with the introduction of a development squad and two junior teams at Under 7 and Under 9 age groups. Despite Dunn's resignation early in the 2017-18 season, the club enjoyed yet another highly successful season. Senior players Steve Akrigg and Kevin Towey were appointed joint player managers, leading the club to promotion to the

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English Association football, football league that was founded in 1968. It has four divisions: the Premier Division (which stands at level 7 of the English football league system), Division One East, Division ...

and victory in the final of the North West Counties Challenge Cup against

Burscough Burscough () is a town and civil parish in West Lancashire in the ceremonial county of Lancashire, England. It is located to the north of Ormskirk and northwest of Skelmersdale. The parish also includes the hamlet of Tarlscough and the Martin ...

. Widnes' first season at Step 4 brought mixed success. Early exits in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competit ...

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after the English Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams. The compet ...

and League Cup meant The Whites only had the league to focus on. Joint managers Towey and Akrigg guided Widnes to a solid mid table finish, despite ending the season as one of the leagues form sides. The next two seasons were affected by the turmoil caused by the

Coronavirus Pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identifie ...

. Widnes finished the abandoned 2019-20 season in 12th, as well as the curtailed 2020-21 season in the same position. As football returned to normal in the 2021-22 season, Widnes endured a poor start to the season, resulting in the club parting company with Managers Kevin Towey and Steve Akrigg. Former Ashton Town manager David Dempsey was hired, and not only guided Widnes to safety, but turned the side into one of the form teams in the second half of the season, boasting an impressive unbeaten run at home. Dempsey also led his side to the Third Qualifying Round of the FA Trophy, where they were beaten on penalties by

Bootle Bootle (pronounced ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England, which had a population of 51,394 in 2011; the wider Parliamentary constituency had a population of 98,449. Historically part of Lancashire, Bootle ...

, this being the clubs best run to date. Success under Dempsey was short lived as Widnes began the 2022-23 season in very poor form, failing to win any of their first five league games and seeing their FA Cup run ended by

North West Counties The North West Counties A.R.L. were a series of rugby league regional leagues in the North West of England. Most clubs at open age level joined the North West Men's League in 2011 and 2012 but it carried on until folding part way through the 201 ...

side

Bury Bury may refer to: *The burial of human remains *-bury, a suffix in English placenames Places England * Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village * Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire ** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–1 ...

. Subsequently, Widnes and Dempsey went their separate ways. Widnes moved quickly to hire Michael Ellison, who began the season with City of Liverpool. Performances under 'Ello' quickly improved, and Widnes were able to pick up their first league win of the season away to newly promoted

Hanley Hanley is one of the six towns that, along with Burslem, Longton, Fenton, Tunstall and Stoke-upon-Trent, amalgamated to form the City of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, England. Hanley is the ''de facto'' city centre, having long been th ...

Season-by-season record

Crest and colours

Since its foundation, the club has always worn a white home strip. They currently play in black shorts and white socks. The club's away kit is all yellow.

Shirt sponsors and manufacturers

Stadium

Widnes moved into the

Halton Stadium The DCBL Stadium (historically known as Lowerhouse Lane and Naughton Park) is a rugby league stadium in Widnes, Cheshire, England. It is the home of Rugby League side Widnes Vikings of the Betfred Championship, and American football side Hal ...

in 2012, ahead of their debut and so far only season in the

West Cheshire League The West Cheshire Association Football League (commonly known as the West Cheshire League) is an English football league in the county of Cheshire, which also includes teams from Merseyside. Its current principal sponsor is ''Carlsberg'', also s ...

. They played their first home game at the stadium against Chester Nomads Reserves on 1 September 2012. The club's highest attendance at the stadium is 522 set on 18 December 2021 against Runcorn Linnets.

Current squad

Club officials

Boardroom

Coaching staff

Managerial history

Records

Team records

* Record league victory 8 goals: ** 8-0 v

St Helens Town St Helens Town Association Football Club is an English football club based in St. Helens. The club are members of the , and as from season 2016–17 play their home matches at Ruskin Drive Sports Ground, which they share with local rivals Pil ...

, 8 April 2017 * Record home victory 8 goals: ** 8-0 v

, 8 April 2017 * Record league defeat 9 goals: ** 10-1 v Northwich Manchester Villa, 13 December 2014 * Record home attendance: ** 630 vs.

Macclesfield Macclesfield is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Bollin in the east of the county, on the edge of the Cheshire Plain, with Macclesfield Forest to its e ...

Division One West, 2 January 2023 (club record) * Lowest home attendance: ** 24 vs.

Wigan Robin Park Wigan Robin Park FC was a semi-professional football club from Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The Robins had two senior sides, the first team competed in the North West Counties League Division One, and the reserve team competed in the Fou ...

North West Counties Football League The North West Counties Football League is a football league in the North West of England. Since 2019–20, the league has covered the Isle of Man, Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside, Cumbria, northern Staffordshire, northern ...

Division One, 18 April 2015 * Longest unbeaten league run: ** 16 games, 25 November 2017 to 31 March 2018 * Most league games won in a row: ** 14 games, 4 March 2017 to 12 August 2017 * Most league games lost in a row: ** 6 games, 14 March 2015 to 18 April 2015 * Most league games without a win: ** 12 games, 21 September 2019 to 1 January 2020 * Best league performance: ** 12th

Northern Premier League Division One West Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ...

2018–19 * Best FA Cup performance: ** First Round Qualifying 2019-20 * Best FA Trophy performance: ** Third Round Qualifying

2021-22 Increment or incremental may refer to: *Incrementalism, a theory (also used in politics as a synonym for gradualism) *Increment and decrement operators, the operators ++ and -- in computer programming *Incremental computing *Incremental backup, wh ...

* Best FA Vase performance: ** Second Round Qualifying 2014-15 * Best Liverpool Senior Cup performance: ** Semi-final (3 times)

Honours

*North West Counties League **Premier Division runners-up 2017–18 **Division One champions 2016–17 **League Cup winners 2017-18

References

External links

Official websiteOfficial Twitter
{{Northern Premier League North West Counties Football League clubs Association football clubs established in 2003 2003 establishments in England Football clubs in Cheshire Football clubs in England Sport in Widnes Northern Premier League clubs West Cheshire Association Football League clubs